KOMP, the SPDR S&P Kensho New Economies Composite ETF, closed the week on a quiet but solid footing — up 3.7% on the week to $71.50, even as the month as a whole left it down nearly 4%.
The most notable development beneath the surface is the sharp retreat in short positions. Short interest has collapsed by 31% over the past month, falling to just 0.07% of float — a level so thin it barely registers as a directional signal. That exodus from the short side tracks the fund's week-long bounce almost precisely, suggesting some of the weekly gain reflects shorts covering rather than fresh buying. The borrow market is loose. Availability is running above 800% of current short interest, meaning there are far more shares available to lend than there are borrowers in the queue. Cost to borrow has edged up about 13% on the week to 3.4%, but that follows a steep 39% drop over the prior month and remains well off the 5-6% range that characterised late May and early June. None of this points to any meaningful squeeze dynamic or directional conviction from the short side.
Options positioning offers little additional read. The put/call ratio has been flat at zero across the past 20 sessions, against a 52-week high of just 0.12. For an ETF of this type, that near-absence of options activity is consistent with the fund being used primarily as a long-only thematic allocation rather than a vehicle for hedging or tactical short-term bets.
The ORTEX short score has drifted lower all week, finishing at 38.8 after touching 43.6 as recently as June 24. That move is directionally meaningful — lower scores imply less short-side pressure — and it mirrors the broader unwind in short interest. The combined score at 38.4 sits comfortably in the lower tier of the universe, reinforcing the view that this is not a fund where bearish positioning is a live story right now.
What is worth watching is whether the fund's underlying thematic exposure — clean energy, genomics, automation — can build on this week's bounce and reclaim lost ground from the difficult month of June. The short-side retreat removes one potential headwind. The question from here is whether sector-level flows into new-economy themes have the momentum to drive the price back toward May levels.
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